From South Sudan to Korea: Doctors carry on late Korean priest's dream
Summary
Nine South Sudanese doctors came to Korea to continue the late Father Lee Tae-seok’s dream of training doctors for South Sudan. Malid Manyuon and his peers completed emergency and clinical training in Korea, including hands-on work at Namyangju Hanyang Hospital. The group said Korea’s advanced medical system sharpened their awareness of South Sudan’s severe shortages. They will return home on Sept. 2 with new skills and a renewed goal of improving care.
Key Facts
- The nine doctors were selected through a scholarship program run by the Lee Tae-seok Foundation, and this was the first time a group came together through that program.
- At Wonkwang University, Manyuon attended medical classes and spent three months improving emergency and clinical skills.
- South Sudan’s per capita gross domestic product was $470 in 2025, ranking it 215th in the world.
- The University of Juba, the country’s largest medical school, has no MRI or CT scanners, and its only X-ray machine is broken and unused.
- Peter Kuer said one doctor in South Sudan has to care for between 25,000 and 50,000 patients, compared with about 390 patients per doctor in Korea.
South Sudanese doctors inspired by Father Lee Tae-seok (1962-2010) visit Korea for training
Father Lee Tae-seok’s nine disciples and officials from the Lee Tae-seok Foundation visit his gravesite in Damyang, South Jeolla Province. Courtesy of the Lee Tae-seok Foundation
When cholera swept through our community in 2007, I saw Father Lee treating as many as 300 patients a day on his own. I thought, ‘If only there were one more doctor.’ I will dedicate myself to my people back home, using the knowledge and skills I learned in Korea.
Malid Manyuon, 37, a South Sudanese medical graduate currently completing his internship, recalled the late Father Lee Tae-seok as he spoke about his journey. He came to Korea in early June to carry on Lee’s dream of training doctors in South Sudan. At Wonkwang University, he attended medical classes and spent three months honing emergency and clinical skills, taking a major step toward fulfilling his lifelong dream.
Gu Jin-seong, back row fourth from left, director of the Lee Tae-seok Leadership Academy, poses with Father Lee Tae-seok’s disciples during a visit at Namyangju Hanyang Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 27. Korea Times photo by Jang Ryeon-seong
Nine South Sudanese doctors who were inspired to pursue medicine after encountering Lee recently came to the home country of their mentor. While some of Lee’s former medical students have visited Korea individually, this was the first time a group had come through a scholarship program run by the Lee Tae-seok Foundation. Near the end of their training, the Hankook Ilbo met the nine doctors on Aug. 27 at Namyangju Hanyang Hospital in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, where they were immersed in hands-on clinical training.
Their experience with Korea’s advanced medical system only made them think more deeply about the harsh realities of health care in South Sudan.
South Sudan’s per capita gross domestic product stood at $470 in 2025, ranking it 215th in the world and among the lowest-income countries. Maternal, newborn and under-5 mortality rates are among the highest in the world, while malaria alone claims about 4,350 lives each year.
Even at the University of Juba, the country’s largest medical school, there are no magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scanners. The only imaging equipment available is an X-ray machine that is broken and left unused. Some of the nine doctors said they had never even worn surgical gloves before coming to Korea for their training.
When poor medical infrastructure is part of everyday life, it can be difficult even to recognize what is missing.
Manyuon experienced the gap in health care infrastructure firsthand when he collapsed from acute appendicitis just one month after arriving in Korea.
“In South Sudan, appendicitis can be a dangerous disease because of complications,” he said. “But in Korea, I underwent laparoscopic surgery and was discharged within a week with virtually no scar.”
Father Lee Tae-seok’s disciples examine a 3D cerebral angiography system at Namyangju Hanyang Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 27. Korea Times photo by Jang Ryeon-seong
Although each of the young doctors has a different story, they share a single goal: to improve their country’s desperately underdeveloped health care system.
Dal, 40, the oldest member of the group, was seriously injured in a bicycle accident in 2008. Lee treated him and helped support his education. The experience inspired him to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology so that he could help save both mothers and their babies.
“When I return home, I will actively urge the government to bring in the medical equipment we need,” Dal said.
Peter Kuer, 34, who graduated at the top of his class from the University of Juba’s medical school, hopes to become a surgeon.
“There are so few doctors in South Sudan that one doctor has to care for between 25,000 and 50,000 patients, compared with about 390 patients per doctor in Korea,” he said. “Above all, we urgently need surgeons who can quickly stabilize emergency patients and carry out the necessary operations.”
He added, “Many emergency patients could be saved if we had proper emergency equipment and basic medical devices such as endoscopes.”
From left, South Sudanese doctors Peter Kur, Dal and Manyuon Malid Manyuon Ater speak during a Hankook Ilbo interview at Namyangju Hanyang Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 27. Korea Times photo by Jang Ryeon-seong
The Lee Tae-seok Foundation is also focusing on developing specialists capable of performing actual surgeries, rather than simply training general practitioners.
Koo Jin-sung, director of the Lee Tae-seok Leadership Academy and a board member of the Lee Tae-seok Foundation, which organized the scholarship program, said the first group of young doctors was selected primarily from graduates of Don Bosco High School, where Lee once worked.
“Because of the civil war, some of them fell more than five years behind in their education,” Koo said. “We selected these young doctors, particularly those who attended Don Bosco High School, which was closely connected to Father Lee.”
He added, “We hope Father Lee’s spirit of service will be carried on to the next generation.”
The nine young doctors will board a flight home on Sept. 2, carrying with them the memory of Lee’s dedication and the advanced medical skills they acquired in Korea.
Father Lee Tae-seok / Yonhap
Father Lee Tae-seok (1962-2010), Catholic priest and physician
Lee was a Catholic priest and physician who was sent to Tonj, in present-day South Sudan, in 2001. He devoted himself to providing medical care and education to local communities.
He established a hospital to treat patients, founded a school to educate children and formed a brass band, using music to bring hope to young people. He became known as the “Schweitzer of Tonj,” after Albert Schweitzer, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning physician and humanitarian.
Following his death in 2010, Lee was posthumously awarded Korea’s Order of Civil Merit, Mugunghwa Medal.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
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